CPD changes Taser policy after study finds they can cause death

9:20 PM,
Sep. 18, 2012

Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig talks Tuesday about changes in how his department will deploy Tasers/The Enquirer/Kimball Perry

Written by

Janice Morse

Cincinnati police officials want to reduce the risk that someone could die from a Taser shock. That's why the department is changing how and when officers are supposed to use them, Police Chief James Craig said.

"This is a high-risk business we're in," the chief said Tuesday as he announced changes to the department's Taser policy, stressing that Tasers save lives and reduce injuries to police and to suspects. Taser deaths are rare nationwide; Craig said Cincinnati officers have deployed Tasers hundreds of times a year since 2004 with no fatalities.